Samuel Zinckey, who has been rafting for 36 years, told THE WEEKEND STAR that only 17 of 200 rafts were spared. He said that it will take about $1.2 million to rebuild the rafts.

"We are asking the management to come to our assistance so we can start the rebuilding process," Zinckey said.

Florence Campbell said that the incident has come at a very bad time. "It is the beginning of the season and by the look of things we may be out for another two weeks. We now have to be cancelling all our bookings. This is not good for us and cruise ship passengers will be very disappointed," she said.

The rains, which lashed Trelawny, were induced by a cold front across Jamaica.

The Office of Disaster Prepardness said that it has received reports of flooding and landslides in the parishes of Trelawny and St Ann.

The forecast is for periods of showers and thunderstorms to affect sections of most parishes today.